My face not in the mirror
by MissMary
Summary: What if the All-Spark wanted a backup to Sam, but did not have a Cube? Humans live a short time compared to Cybertronians, but pass their genes on to their children.... The story involves Sam and his family, of both races. Last chapter, cute humor only.
1. Chapter 1

While this fan fiction follows 'Download" it can be read alone. What if the All-Spark wanted a backup to Sam, but did not have a Cube? Humans live a short time compared to Cybertronians, but pass their genes on to their children... The story involves Sam and his family, of both races.

The face not in the mirror

Optimus reminded Jimmie, and Minnie of their promise to tell the Prime about Minnie, and why the leader of the Autobots never met her even though she was his granddaughter and Jimmie's daughter. When Jimmie visited Sam and told him about the promise, Sam laughed and arranged an evening when all of them could gather near Sam's new quarters. "Really, Optimus, you'd think that I hid her from you on purpose, the way you're complaining," he told his Cybertronian friend.

"I sure it was just overlooked, but you can imagine my surprise when I see a young woman who looks so much like you, your grandchild, who I never knew existed. "

"It's complicated, "Jimmie admitted, relaxing over his drink. "Minnie was adopted, you see, so officially she's not related to me- to us- at all. Just biologically." Minnie giggled, when she saw the Prime's reaction.

Sam laughed. "Complicated is the word," he admitted. "Now, you realize this was right before Mikaela started getting sick." He spared a sad thought for his wife, dead of cancer for years now. He still missed her.

He thought again how easy it was to tell the truth the right way, and lie by inference. He did hide Minnie from the Prime, and for a good reason.

Minnie waited on the bench in front of the good restaurant. School had just ended, with graduation coming up, and she was not used to having time to just sit and eat. She blinked behind her glasses, wanting to take them off but not sure she would see the lady she was looking for. Bluestreak said she was white, with dark brown hair, and would be wearing nurse's clothes. Minnie tugged at the red pantsuit she agreed to wear because it ought to make her easier to see, and scanned the crowd. She was early, and it was just time, now, for the meeting. Her phone buzzed in her pocket, and she looked at it. Bluestreak had texted her: Poppy said she's at the place now, but she got off early and changed into a yellow outfit: He sent a picture. She looked around again, and this time she saw the woman in the picture. Minnie was instantly envious. Poppy looked like she knew what she was doing and like she was in charge. She also looked a little exasperated until Minnie approached and she looked down a little. "Minerva Harrison?" she asked.

The young girl-she could absolutely not be older than a teenager, could she, so tiny and slight and nervous?- nodded. "I just got a text from Bluestreak with your picture, so you must be Poppy Witwicky?" she said breathlessly. "I better let him know I met you so he doesn't worry he gets a little antsy if I don't reply quick," even as she spoke, still looking at Poppy, her fingers were moving over the phone. She glanced down, making sure the message was correct, "There that should do it."

"Let's go in," Poppy said, before Minnie could get started again. She visited this resturant before after a meeting. They went in, and Poppy ordered an appetizer with her drink for them to share. Minnie took off her glasses to reveal quite pretty blue eyes. She was attractive, but not truly pretty. Somewhere, Poppy got the idea that she met this young lady before, though why she could not fathom. The impulse to reach over and hug the child and tell her everything was going to be okay was almost overwhelming. Poppy wanted to stuff her mouth with food for two reasons. She was skinny, and she never seemed to stop talking. Bluestreak, she reflected, might have met his match in the chatter chatter department, sicne it looked like Minnie could talk and text at the same tim

Still, her background was impressive. While the information Poppy and Bluestreak found on the internet said Minnie recently celebrated her twentieth birthday, she would hold a bachelor's degree in physics and mechanical enworked part time at a factory while studying, and she discussed car engine design with Bluestreak regularly. Bots went to Bluestreak for ideas when they wanted to change alts or wanted to consider upgrades, and a lot of the ideas came from this little girl who looked like a strong wind would blow her over. Poppy looked at Minnie's hands. They were calloused and one fingernail still had a little black line if you looked hard. When Minnie saw her looking, she hid the hand under the table and stopped talking. "Mechanics always have oil somewhere," Poppy said, amused. The amusement died as Minnie looked up, because the pain there was real. "Bluestreak says that you're an engineer," she added quickly.

Her face fell. "I have the degree, and that's what I'd like to do," she said, slowly for once, "but my parents want me to go to graduate school."

"Where?" Poppy asked.

"I've been accepted at MIT," Minnie said, and looked down.

Poppy reached across the table, put a hand under Minnie's chin, and brought it up. "Bluestreak sent me to meet you for two reasons," she said, firmly but kindly. "He believed you were unhappy, and he thought you could help us. I think he's right. Why are you unhappy about being accepted at MIT?"

"I don't want to go!" she burst out. "I want to work with," she held her hands out, "these, I want to fix things, I want to use these, not just a computer and a design board. My parents just can't see that! They're college professors and they think if you work with your hands you just aren't-aren't- smart! And they think if you work with machines instead of ideas you're not smart, I just got a degree in one of the hardest majors in the school and they still wonder what's wrong with me. "She reached for her glass and gulped. "It's enough for me to wish that the stories about giant intelligent robots were true," she added dolefully. "They wouldn't think I was stupid 'cause I like to work with machines."

"So you like working with machines," Poppy said. "You want to keep working at a job like the one you have?"

"Well," Minnie admitted, "it's a little limiting right now, since I'm only part time. I mean, the machinery and everything is real established. I'd like something a little more," she groped for a word, "challenging. That's why I like the car design boards, they make you think. A lot of the people who talk on them, well, Bluestreak says they don't know how to think machine."

Poppy smiled. "But you do." Minnie giggled. The waitress came by and took their orders. "I don't really think machine, either. I'm a nurse, remember. "She was the head of the nursing department in a fairly large hospital, but she kept that to herself. "Bluestreak couldn't come, like he said. Maybe you'll be able to meet him later, though. I need to make a phone call, if you don't mind? I will be right back. "She trotted outside and sat in her car. "Bluestreak, you were right, and I'll call Dad, but no promises. You'll still be in trouble."

The car assured her that he could deal with that, at length. Poppy told him to shut up as she dialed a number.

Sam Witwicky sighed as he went over the energon production schedule. The lag played hell not only with the battery production, but with the bots. After going so long with limited fuel, they wanted the plants working at full capacity. Even with the stuff stockpiled- and right now they were using the stuff as fast as the plants produced it- they got antsy, because they never knew when the Decepticons would manage a raid and steal most of happened at least once a year. No matter how many times they moved the storage, the sentient enemy machines managed to get some. The problem was that they only had so many maintenance engineers, and they simply could not keep up. When there was a major breakdown, everything got behind. They needed to stockpile so they could upgrade the machines, too.

Worse, whoever worked with the energon plants needed to deal with the bots, and with cranky bots at times to boot. He almost threw the sonic ball he kept for self-defense at Prowl when the security bot wanted to work on the security at the plant, and kept getting in the way of his overworked personnel. It took Sam almost an hour to calm down Billy, the chief engineer/plant manager. Sam left Prowl to Optimus; no human, not even Sam Witwicky who was known to hold their precious Cube, could win an argument with a bot twice his size and four times his weight when he was literally smoking hot mad. Sam really, really needed another engineer, and he could not find one. Working at the energon plant took someone who was creative as well as willing to get their hands dirty. When he saw the phone call was from Poppy, he gladly put the forms down and answered. His daughter was not an engineer and would not whine at him.

After a moment he was not so sure. "Okay, what's the catch?"

"Huh?"

"What's the catch? He's-"

"She. That's part of the catch. She's young, she's tiny, and she'll talk your leg off if she's nervous. I get the feeling she slows down once she gets to know you."

"And the other catch?"

"She's been Bluestreak's internet friend for some time. That's how I found her. So I'll send you her info and you let me know if you're willing to chance it?"

"Bluestreak knows he's going to catch it from Optimus and Prowl, doesn't he? Regardless of how well things do or don't work out?"

"Yes, he knows, but she's really unhappy, Daddy, and I think this would be her dream job. She'll jump at the chance of seeing Bluestreak, and if she freaks out, we'll just do the usual." The usual being a shun shot from the bot and a trip to the hospital, where the victim discovered, usually with some relief, that they were hallucinating. "She told me she wished that the stories about the giant robots were true because they wouldn't think she was stupid just because she likes to work with machines."

"All right. I'm desperate, but no promises."

Poppy went back to find their meals waiting. While she waited for her phone to beep, she discovered that Minnie was quite intelligent and when she slowed down, an entertaining companion. She also discovered that Minnie was adopted by her folks when they were in their forties. They were almost through with dinner before she got the text. "Okay," she said, "What if I were to tell you I know of a job where you would need to be able to work with your hands and could do some designing? Some upgrades that might need some imagination, a lot like the ones you and Bluestreak talk about with the cars?" Minnie lit up like a light bulb. "Now, the problem is that you need to meet someone, tonight." It was May, and still light, but twilight would be falling soon. That was part of what Poppy was looking for. "I'd like for you to follow me to a park about twenty minutes away. We'll be in the parking lot, where there are plenty of lights. Do you have a camera phone?" Minnie nodded. "I'm asking you not to use it. If you agree, I'll send you the directions on your phone in case we get separated."

Minnie thought. "Who will I be meeting?"

"Bluestreak. But seeing him is going to be a shock. "Minnie's grin gave her the answer, and Poppy signaled the waitress for the bill.

Minnie's stomach was in knots. She had wanted to meet Bluestreak for years. She had no romantic inclinations, as he told her some time back that he was 'unavailable' by which she thought he had a partner, though he never mentioned one. She wondered if he was deformed, if he was in prison, everything up and down the limit of human experience. She saw one other car in the parking lot, a yellow stripped Camaro,that she was certain was an antique. She parked her car in the very spacious lot and went to where Poppy was getting out of hers. The dark-haired nurse took Minnie's arm and drew them back from her car, then said, "Okay, Blue, go for it." With that, the car came apart and put itself back together, rising up and up, turning into a tall bipedal form. Minnie watched, her eyes glued to the process. Then she took her glasses off, cleaned them on her shirt, and looked again.

"That liar. He told me there was no such thing as a giant robot." She walked closer, craned her head up, and shouted, "Sit down? How can I talk to you without getting a crick in my neck?" She did not hear the start of the apology, but she did hear the end as he squatted. She swarmed up his knee to better talk to him, taking off her glasses and shoving them in a pocket.

Across the parking lot, Sam and Mikaela Witwicky convulsed in laughter as they watched the girl climb up Bluestreak's leg to sit on his knee and talk with amazing animation. Beside them, Bumblebee said, "You and Optimus spent hours talking over the rules for introducing humans to us, and they just ignored every one of them. Why are you laughing?"

"I think I just found an engineer to work at the energon plants," Sam said, recovering. "Excuse me while I do an interview." He walked over the parking lot to the two friends talking up a storm. "Hey," he shouted, and both broke off to look down at him. "You need a job?" He could barely see her nod. "You got one, now get down and let's work out some details. " Bluestreak held out a hand and she jumped into it, hanging on to the outstretched thumb as he put her down. Mikaela was laughing again, hanging on to Bumblebee. Sam turned and waved.

"Come on, Bee." She started to walk over. It honked just as she got in front. She turned and swiftly kicked a tire. "Smart aleck. Now come on." The car turned into a bot and went toward Sam slowly as she trotted up to her daughter, who wore a smug grin. The two other humans turned to look at them, smiling. The harsh lights washed out the color in their faces, and in that context both women's look went from amusement to amazement. The two faces could be one looking into a mirror.

"So," Optimus said, "didn't Bumblebee make a report?"

"He did, but that was right when we had that trouble in Bangkok, remember? And right after the joke of the year."

"When the small 'cons found you at the energon plant?"

"Give me a break, Optimus, _I_ found _them._.."

Sam introduced Minnie to Billy and went on an inspection of the plant while they talked. If she could not work with Billy, he would keep looking and put her in the motor pool; they needed a mechanic, too, just not quite as urgently. He enjoyed being alone. The energon plants were safe, being encased on the same kind of shielding the bots had put on his home, so he did not have to be guarded here. Sam had been captured once by Megatron. He barely survived the experience, and since then he was constantly guarded unless at home, at the base, or at the energon plants. He inspected the plant looking at the state of the machinery, the cleanliness of the place, and the state of the employee's lounge. The safety precautions all seemed to be in place and the "raw material" also known as garbage was confined to sealed units. Drones sorted the garbage for organic useable material and recyclable material. There was surprisingly little left. Sam poked behind the stacks to see how high the dust bunnies had gotten, and found something he did not expect. He backed up fast, reaching for his wristwatch with its alarm as a small Decepticon, about the size of Wheelie, shot from behind the container.

"Human!" he squealed, and grabbed at Sam's wrist. Seconds later, there were four more, each grabbing a limb. He yelled, and one punched him in the stomach, knocking the wind from him. This time he recognized the kind they were; several similar ones had grabbed him in Africa when he was captured before. He fought them, and they produced the twine used for wrapping bales and settling the energon storage tanks on the transports to tie his legs together and secure his arms to his chest. They used a cleaning rag to gag him. It smelled bad and tasted worse. He looked like a twine mummy by the time they were finished. Then they examined him. "Sam Witwicky," one squealed. "Megatron wants him. Alive, not hurt bad. Have to get him out. "With that they lifted him and carried him off.

They carried him all over the plant, from one bolt-hole to another, and Sam learned just how the Decepticons had managed their raids. The small 'cons had alt modes that mimicked storage machines. They came in some of the vents and then, when outside the protection domes and in the storage areas, they contacted their larger counterparts.

Somewhere in their search, one of them triggered his wrist alarm, which had a locator built into it. Alarms went off all over the building. The small 'cons squealed and headed for the closest hiding place and tried to haul Sam behind it. While Sam was still slightly underweight, as he had been most of his life, they could not get him in. When the security forces came into sight, they dropped him and either transformed or bolted behind the machinery.

The security forces, three ex-NEST soldiers, found Sam in the middle of the floor tied in shipping twine from his shoulders to his elbows and from his ankles to his knees, and gagged with a rag. They ran up, pulled the rag out of his mouth, and he gasped out, "Sonic balls, this one and behind the machines!" Sonic balls were standard issue for security, as they would force a Cybertronian to transform and put them in stasis lock. They grabbed and threw, then dragged Sam out of the way as the twine machine began to transform and there were weird grinding sounds from behind the machines. It took a few minutes to cut enough of the ropes to get Sam free. Sam explained as they chopped twine and stood him the uproar settled. Prowl headed out with the 'cons and maintenence started plugging the holes. When he was finally able to rejoin Minnie and Billy, he discovered that they had been so involved in going over the machinery at the plant and what it did that they never noticed how long he was gone. Both of them exclaimed over Sam's appearance, as he was filthy dirty from his close encounters with the floor and various hiding places. He called Mikaela and asked to bring Minnie home with him so he could change and both of them could eat lunch. Mikaela agreed to meet him; she approved of his policy to never be alone with a female employee. When they reached Bumblebee, Sam explained everything again, this time on a com unit that was linked to Prowl and Optimus. Reaching the house, Sam saw Mikaela getting out of Prowl's alt form, and the bots headed for the energon plant as soon as Sam and Minnie got out.

Mikaela noted that in the light of day, the resemblance between Sam and Minnie was diluted. Their coloring was different, as Minnie's eyes were bright blue and her hair a dirty blonde. The glasses helped. "You look like you've been rolled on the floor," she told her husband, who was covered with dust in odd places. "Come on, let's see if we can find something to eat while you tell me what happened. " They started inside and were met by Wheelie, who greeted Mikaela as though it had not seen her in years instead of just that morning. Sam looked at Minnie and rolled his eyes.

"You mind if I get a shower?" he asked, "before I start explanations?" Amused, Mikaela waved him off. She turned her attention to the tiny new employee. When Sam returned, sandwiches were on the table. "This has got to be the joke of the year," he began, and told her about the kidnapping gone sour. Soon she was snickering, and he laughed sheepishly. Sam got an idea as he looked at the ex-Decepticon. "Wheelie, come here," he said. When it obeyed, he pointed to the Decepticon emblem. "Okay, Minnie, see this?" She nodded. "If you see a bot with this, run or hide immediately, and call for help. This is a Decepticon emblem, and in most cases it means danger. Wheelie is an exception, because he decided to switch sides, but that's rare. "

"Yeah, I was tired of being a disposable Decepticon drone!"

Minnie giggled, then sobered. "So the rumors about the war aren't rumors, are they. " She looked at Sam and then at Mikaela.

"No," Sam said quietly. "We've been involved since the beginning, Mikaela and I. We were sixteen when it all started. The conflicts come and go, but the energon plants were built to supply the bots, in the beginning. The energon batteries are the outward product of the plants, but most of the product goes to the botsd. The Decepticons need it too, so they steal it from us. Today, we just found out how they do it. Which reminds me- Wheelie, we need you to go to the other energon plant and look for ways in for small bots like you. All four of the ones that came after me were your size."

"Guess I can manage. Warrior Goddess, will you come with me?"

She nodded, turning to Sam. "I think that would be a good idea, "she said seriously. "There might be more of them, and they might be smarter." She was not laughing. "They did get you once, and that was enough."

"They did?" Minnie said in a small voice.

"He had burns all over him, about this size," Mikaela said, showing a circle of her hand. "He had a dislocated shoulder, a broken leg, a concussion, and enough bruises to make him look like he'd rolled in purple paint. Sweetie, I'm telling you this for a reason. The energon plants are shielded, and the base is protected, so it's unlikely that you would be in danger, but that kind of danger does exist. We also lose our friends, bot and human, when there are fights."

Minnie thought about it, then thrust her chin out. "I want to help. " She stopped a moment. "It- it would mean something. Are you connected to the government at all?" she asked suddenly.

"We work with the government, but the company supports the bots," Sam answered. "They're considered to be a nation in exile, and that nation owns most of the company. We got the energon and solar battery storage ideas and designs from them, and we get a lot of material from their mining the asteroids. They insisted that we still have part of it," he smiled and took Mikaela's hand, "but the company really pays for the war and the support of the bots. Considering that the solar batteries and some energon batteries are the green power source of choice in most countries, we can do that without government funds." She nodded, and turned her attention to her sandwiches.

Minnie started work as soon as she graduated. Her parents were disappointed, but without having to pay for Minnie's school, they discovered they could put the money into their retirement instead. They also noticed that she was happier, full of talk about the plant and the people she worked with and within a few months the reproaches died. She moved to an apartment on base as soon as one opened up, but visited her parents regularly.

Minnie was happier than she had ever been, because she fit in at the plant and with the bots immediately. Bumblebee did report the human-robot rule violation, but the report got lost when a Decepticon raid in Bangkok took most of the bots there for several days. As Bumblebee, like most of the bots, found that Minnie blunted Bluestreak's need to talk somewhat, nothing more was done. They were too grateful.

"So the report was lost and no one spoke up because they were afraid that I would separate the two of them somehow and Bluestreak would keep spouting words like a fountain."

"I don't think the report was lost, I think it was buried so deep you never found it, and there were some others who had a reason to keep quiet..."

Minnie worked at the energon plants with Billy for months, getting the plant machines up to peak performance and helping with approval, she set up an auto shop, and when the engineering work was done, she worked on the more seriously damaged company cars. Bluestreak spent a lot of time with her there, and introduced her to other bots as well. They discussed alt forms at length, with Minnie using her laptop to demonstrate some of the better model designs. She could get her hands into some joints and get out stuck material, or smooth dents, and other small assists, and would do so if they were on a long list for minor repairs. Sometimes, especially in the case of the twins, there was a need to escape official attention. Minnie loved practical jokes, and demanded the story as she worked in those cases. However, if the injury was more than she could handle, she firmly sent them to the infirmary, and she would text Mikaela to expect them. Mikaela approved and visited to show her some of the simple repairs, and to go over signs of conditions that must be reported to Ratchet. She did not mention the matter to Ratchet, not considering it to be very important.

On afternoon a few months after he hired Minnie, Sam was in his office waiting for her and answering his unending e-mail while he waited. Mikaela warned him, time and again, that they had to do something, and soon. The rumors were flying, that Minnie was Sam's daughter. Sam had protested that it was better to leave it alone, that addressing the matter would make it worse. Minnie was already firmly established in the company. With her on board, the energon machines were working well. Billy and she were already working on improvements. Anyone looking at her record would not question her value as an employee. That did not change the fact that the rumors were flying, and that sooner or later there were going to be consequences. Minnie was encountering hostility with some of the human employees, including Sam's secretary Bernice.

However, Annabelle, Sam's second in command and the daughter of Will Lennox, had a different problem with Minnie. Minnie was an engineer and a mechanic, and while when she had to she could present a decently dressed exterior, she normally worked in jeans or coveralls and pulled her hair back in a careless ponytail. She frequently had dirt under her fingernails. Her carelessness, especially since she was one of the few higher level female employees in a male-dominated company, annoyed Annabelle, who was never less than professionally dressed and neatly groomed. The two struck sparks whenever they met. Annabelle usually left Minnie fuming, and Sam wondered when the insults would escalate into something more.

That morning he was exasperated at the size of his outbox. Bernice, while otherwise an excellent secretary, hated filing. He heard Annabelle saying, "Hello, chatterbox. Do you have an appointment?"

"Strangely enough I do," Minnie said, "but I'm early." Minnie was neatly if resentfully dressed on a neat pants suit-Sam had never seen her in a dress and suspected he never would- but he heard a note of meekness in her voice that he had already learned was a danger sign. That note was usually followed by Minnie's wickedly accurate barbs. Later, he thought that Annabelle should have known better.

"You can wait, then, "Annabelle purred. Sam heard feet padding on the floor. Annabelle tended to leave her shoes behind if she was only going after coffee. There was a scuffling noise for just a second, then feet padding back.

Sam had just opened the door when he heard Minnie say oh-so innocently,

"Interesting shoes you have there. Odd for office work, though, don't you think?"

That sent Sam out of the office quick, wondering just what the hell was going on. Minnie stood by the door, visibly quivering with laughter, as Annabelle stared at her own feet. Instead of the fashionable pumps she normally wore, she wore a set of hiking boots, dirty, ugly, and scuffed to pieces. She lifted her foot and tried to shake them off, and they would not come off. She lifted incredulous eyes to Minnie, then lunged. Minnie took off like a shot cannonball. Annabelle paused for just a moment to grab her monster coffee cup full of coffee before she sprinted after the fleeing engineer. Sam was on the phone immediately. "Security? Look for Annabelle and Minnie. Get the film. I'm going to want to see it later. "

Bernice was staring out of the door after the two women. "Which way did they go?" Sam asked. Bernice pointed left. "How much you want to bet Annabelle doesn't catch her?"

"You're on," she said instantly. "Lunch for Annabelle and me on you if I win."

"Okay, terms," he said. "If Annabelle catches Minnie or gets her with the coffee, you win, and I take the two of you to lunch. If Annabelle does not catch her or gives up, you file all the back paperwork. File all of it, doing nothing else, until it's done. Deal?"

"You got it." She slapped palms. Sam headed out, and went to the security station. Thus far they had managed to get the whole race on film.

"Any idea where she's going?" Barney asked.

"If she can make it, she'll head for the garage. She can crawl under the desk there," Sam said. He saw her do it when Arcee scared her. "Come with me, I need a witness, I have a bet riding on this. " They headed out. Barney commandeered a golf cart and they reached the garage just as Minnie, with Annabelle about twenty feet behind, raced into the garage. They got there just in time to see her rush past the head mechanic and slide under the desk without slowing down at all. Sam had his phone out, recording. Barney was wheezing by this time. Annabelle made the turn, got in, and started to skid to a halt, looking for her victim, and ran smack into the head mechanic, drenching him with what was by now only mildly warm coffee. His bellow filled the garage. Sam caught a glimpse of Minnie silently convulsed with laughter under the desk, and made a call. "All the paperwork, by tomorrow evening before you leave work," he said, as Annabelle and the sputtering mechanic walked out of the garage. Sam walked over to Minnie and pulled her out. She brushed the dust off of her pants and elbows and grinned. "I'll ask you how you got the holograms later," he said, "but what kept her shoes on?"

"Fast drying superglue," she said. Barney posted the video on YouTube that night, and when she stopped fuming Annabelle showed the little engineer a little more respect.

However, when Ratchet saw the video, the bot's medic figured out which human had helped the twins when they glued most of his wrenches on the walls like a weird artwork. Someone small, like a human, had to have gotten around the security cameras. Ratchet figured the holograms were the payment for helping out. Idly, the bot pointed a finger and asked who she was. Mikaela simply said she was the new engineer at the energon plant and Bluestreak's human friend. When the medic discovered that Minnie dared to deal with some medical problems-admittedly small, but still medical- without his supervision, Ratchet resolved to give that young human a piece of his mind, and headed over to the plant. To his surprise, the personnel there pointed to Minnie's 'garage' without blinking. Bluestreak was on the other side of the building in his alt mode, evidently waiting. Ratchet went in to the 'garage' and looked around.

"Hi there!" he heard, and looked down almost at his feet to see a child-sized human with glasses looking up at him. She looked oddly familiar. She wore a pair of coveralls, and except for the high voice, Ratchet would not have been certain of her gender. She waved down, and he bent, mentally altering his lecture. He did not expect a human this young. She was already reaching for some kind of tool when he got to her level. She came up to his knee talking. "Blue, I've got a bot here that has a dent, it shouldn't take but a moment, just hold up. Yes I know it's Sam we're going to see, but I'm up there at least once a week seeing Poppy anyway so just settle down, I know he said it was important but it's personal important. I've explained that, I'll tell you when I can. "As she talked she managed to get the dent out. Ratchet was surprised at the minor relief, as he had not really noticed it much. She began buffing as she said, "Sorry, Blue gets antsy sometimes, I can get this sanded smooth, but the other bots tell me that they'd rather do their own paint, that I can't see the colors like they can, at least he tells me that-"

"Uh," Ratchet began as she put the tool down.

"- it looks like that is done, would you do me a big favor and make sure the door is down tight when you leave or it jumps up by itself sometimes and scares the life out of me." She was pealing off the coverall to reveal jeans and a bright shirt. Ratchet winced a little at the colors. "Yeah, I know, it hurts your eyes, but I like the colors. " She was out of the door, and the last Ratchet heard was, "Damn, I forgot to get his name!"

"Ratchet looked at the sanded spot on his knee. Then he realized a chance at revenge.

Minnie never did find out who painted the garage in those neon bright colors. She thought it was cute, but the bots said the colors hurt their optics. It took two long nights to repaint the garage.

When Ironhide told Ratchet about Minnie's minor repairs, he expected a blowup. Instead, Ratchet said, "We've met. She's not like Bluestreak, she's worse. I said two words and I don't think she heard either one of them."

"But what about the repairs she does?"

"She's all right for little things like dents. Mikaela promised Minnie would send anything important to us." Ironhide wondered where the amusement the medic was radiating came from, but wisely did not ask.

"I never knew who did that!" Minnie exclaimed. "I blamed the twins and they never let me help them again!"

"Thank God!"

"Thank Primus! How did James find out that Minnie was his child?"

"I guessed as soon as I saw her, but we made sure anyway."

When Jimmie was fifteen, Poppy brought home a friend for a week. Beth was cute, about the same height as Poppy, and a combat soldier that had a reputation for recklessness. She had bright blue eyes and blond hair, and a figure models would kill for. Jimmie, like any normal teenaged boy, drooled. More than his sister or brother, Jimmie resembled his lovely mother. Beth initiated Jimmie into the joy of sex that week, before being sent overseas. He found out through Poppy later that Beth was in trouble, but did not know what kind until Poppy said Beth had miscarried. His father had found him in the meadow, upset, and managed to coax the story out of him. Dad had understood, but Jimmie felt the anger in him and hunched his shoulders. "It's not you I'm mad at," Sam told his older son, controlling himself with an effort. "Beth was in trouble because she wouldn't say who the father was. If she did, she'd have been in worse trouble. She's an adult, about Poppy's age, and you're underage. That's statutory rape. "He took a deep breath. "But Poppy said she lost the baby. That happens, son, and it's nothing to feel bad about." Jimmie mumbled something. "What's that?"

"I wondering if she got an abortion," he said miserably.

"I doubt it. Since the new birth control methods work so much better, babies to adopt are hard to find, and abortion's hard to get." Sam hugged Jimmie, who did feel much better. It was not until six years later that Poppy told him Beth had a miscarriage of one child, when she was carrying twins. The other child survived, and was given up for adoption. It was far too late for Jimmie to do anything about the matter.

When he saw Minnie for the first time, he was stunned. He was on his way to see Sam, and he asked about her as soon as he had greeted his father. "Yes, she's the right age," Sam said. "We've had a lot of rumors that I hired my illegitimate daughter, so I'm having to prove different. I don't see any reason why we can't do both tests at the same time." They made the arrangements. Sam and Mikaela had already met with Minnie to show her the negativre results of her test with Sam. Then they carefully broached the idea that they thought they did know who the father was but would she consent to the testing without meeting him? She agreed, and she was coming to see the results tonight. He had no idea when he had been more nervous. When he saw headlights, he left to get Poppy.

"Meet my famous younger brother," Poppy said, when she had given Minnie a hello hug. "Jimmie Banes Witwicky, meet Minnie Harrison, Dad's new engineer."

He smiled and shook her hand, and she started talking. She was adorable, he thought as she chattered. She talked about how much she liked her job. He got her to talking about the bots and then about cars, and they argued about which was the best luxury car. Dinner came up, and his parents showed up. Over dinner there was only small talk. Expectation hung over all of them. Finally dinner was over and cleaned up, and Jimmie asked Minnie to talk to him in the study. There, he showed her the paternity test, and explained.

"So it was a kind of rape," she said slowly. "Of you." She looked up.

"Poppy thinks she didn't really know how old I was," Jimmie said. "Now, with this part over with, we need to discuss something-but not here. Come with me." He led her out, and told his mother, "I'm taking her to the meadow. "

"Good," she said, and gave Minnie a wink. Minnie grinned back as they walked outside, past the swimming pool and into the woods behind the house. Past the woods was a meadow with a small pond.

"This is our quiet spot," Jimmie said, walking toward the patio where there were chairs. "We used to come here to look at the clouds and see shapes- the bots loved what we came up with- and to look at the stars. They had a lot of stories about planets and stuff too. Prowl knows some of the best ones. "He chose a chair and sat. "Now, did you wonder why I don't use my full name?" She shook her head. "It's for my safety, and indirectly, Dad's. Everyone else in this family lives around here, or did, and they're where the bots can protect them." She nodded. "Well, I'm not. I can't be, with the kind of career I have. Once, the Decepticons got hold of my grandparents, and Sam almost gave himself up to save them. I changed my name so they wouldn't come after me for the same reason." He looked at Minnie seriously. "So I'm asking you to keep this quiet to your adoptive parents and anyone not associated with the base or the bots. The bots know to keep quiet about me, so it's okay with them, and Dad's going to hint that he thinks you're some kind of relative."

"It's okay," she said. She laid her hand on Jimmie's arm. "Really, Jimmie, it's okay. I just wanted to know where I came from. And knowing I'm related to Sam and Mikaela and Poppy, well, that's wonderful. Like you said, they already act like my family. At the same time, I still have my folks, and I'm all they have, so it works out."

He smiled at her. "Don't think I'm going to forget you exist. We'll be in touch, as much as I can manage. Can we agree on that?" She nodded, smiling, and he hugged her. "Good. Tell me about..." They talked for over three hours, and no one disturbed them.

"I do not understand what adoption means," Optimus said.

"But that's what you guys have done with the sparklings," Minnie said. "None of you are the parents, and all of you are taking care of them, right?"

"Not quite, Minnie," Sam said, seeing Optimus' confusion. "Speaking of sparklings, who has them tonight?"

"Bumblebee." Taking care of the sparklings was a rotating duty with the bots.

"He's doing pretty well; I haven't heard them all night. What did he do, put them in stasis?"

"Ratchet would not approve." That, Sam thought, had to be the kindest way of saying that Ratchet would off-line any bot who skimped on the sparkling's care. The bots were more overprotective of the sparklings than they were of Sam. Ratchet and Ironhide were the worst. "I believe they are playing in what used to be the obstacle course. "

"They do love to hide. They drove the troops crazy that way. It was my one entertainment." Then his face got a strained look that all of them knew too well. He was remembering his time with the Decepticons. Minnie spoke up hastily.

"I'll explain it the way I told Bluestreak. Maybe that'll help."

"Explain then," Optimus said, relived that she had distracted Sam.

"Well, sometimes a woman gets pregnant and for whatever reason she can't deal with a baby. At the same time, sometimes people can't have children, like my folks. There's a legal process where the childless couple can agree to take care of a baby that the birth mother can't take care of. When my mother found out she was pregnant, she knew the father had to be Jimmie. "

"She knew she'd be dealing with me," Sam said. Jimmie and Minnie were surprised at the grim note in his voice. "When I looked into how she managed to get a private adoption without contacting us, I found out she claimed rape. Otherwise she would have been legally obligated to contact the father, and as Jimmie was underage, that meant Mikaela and me. By the time you spoke to me, Jimmie, she's already provided proof that she'd lost the baby and resigned NEST. I thought that was the end of it, though," he smiled at Minnie, "I'm glad I was wrong."

"But why keep the matter quiet?"

Minnie answered, "Because the word might get out that Jimmie Banes was Samuel Witwicky's son, and the Decepticons might use him as a hostage the way they did his parents, back in the beginning. "

"For the same reason he took that name when he left home, "Sam said.

Optimus winced inwardly. That was an incident he preferred to forget. From the time Sam accepted that his life would be entwined with the bots, Optimus and the others tried hard to strike a balance between giving Sam the freedom to have a human life, and the constant vigilance the holder of the Cube/ suspected All-Spark needed. At first Sam was in college, and the matter was not so difficult. For the next few years, when the Decepticons were stronger, the company still building and more in the hands of Sam's father Ronnie, and the negotiations with the governments had been constant, the protection was necessary. Then, as the company and the war became stable, Ronnie Witwicky retired, and Poppy arrived, the matter became more difficult, but manageable.

With the arrival of the two youngest children, however, matters began to be a little more strained. Sam's parents could not care for them as they helped care for Poppy. Mikaela cut her hours with Ratchet to spend more time at home. Sam spent more time with the children. Poppy was a teenager, and began to demand more freedom of her own. They understood that children grew up and replaced the adults that died, and they looked with fresh eyes at Sam's children, wondering which of them would take his place. Poppy would not, that was clear; her impulsive compassion and need to care for others marked her for the medical field, and her fiery temper meant she would not be any kind of diplomat. As time went on and the younger children matured, Optimus wondered. Jimmie was bright and outgoing, loving to deal with people, but with a good grasp of common sense. Optimus thought that this child was the one who would follow Sam.

Then Jimmie won a scholarship to a college far away and declared his intention of pursuing a career in acting, and the battle was joined.

And for the first time in decades, Sam and Optimus were on a different side.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2, the face not in the mirror

In which Sam fights for his son, and his son rescues an Autobot. Please review

It had been two weeks since Sam's rescue from the Decepticon base. The trip home from the Decepticon base was blessedly uneventful, but the aftermath was setting in. Sam had not been starved, but he had lost weight; he had been sleep-deprived for almost the entire time he was there, and he had been under the stress of knowing that every being in the compound would happily kill him if the prototype Cube was found. The presence manifesting to rescue the sparks and create the Sparklings, to protect Ronnie, and to heal Optimus had taken a physical toll. Sam spent a week in the infirmary.

The psychiatrist who serviced the base visited Sam for a quiet evaluation. He told the chief medical officer that Sam suffered from serious post-traumatic stress disorder, possibly delusions. At this point, he stated, Sam was not dangerous as long as he felt safe, and whatever was reasonable to help him feel safe should be done. Sam's return to work and to living on his own should be carefully monitored, but for some time he should not be stressed. He wanted to re-evaluate his patient in a month. The medical officer passed the information on to Poppy, Optimus, and Ratchet with Sam's permission.

To help him feel safe, and to contain him if needed, the Autobots moved him into their area of the base, building him a small addition in a safe spot near the infirmary that both races shared. His family moved his possessions in the day before he was expected to leave the infirmary. When they visited to tell him about the move, Poppy talked in fond exasperation of how the 'babies,' sparklings that the All-Spark presence in Sam had rescued from oblivion in the lab of a twisted Decepticon researcher, kept getting in the way. Their caretaker for the day, Prowl, could not keep them out until James went off to the side with a book and read to them. The rest of the family worked frantically to get the rest of the stuff in, and came back sweating and breathless to find Jimmie's audience had grown from three sparklings to three sparklings and several other Autobots. She and her husband Bob walked over to Ratchet and sat on his leg until her brother got to the end of the story, with the rest of Sam's family doing the same on various friends- Minnie on Bluestreak, Poppy's children Oscar and Jenny on Bumblebee, Ronnie and his family on Ironhide. Jimmie was leaning against Prowl as he read. Even better, Optimus slipped in and gotten a video of the quiet interlude, which he shared with Sam.

It was amazing, Sam reflected now, just how much better that video made him feel. Seeing his family with his Cybertronian friends was as good a cure for his posttraumatic stress as any of the freaking medicines they wanted to give him, not understanding that the stupid things simply would not work for more than an hour or so. The presence considered them wrong and worked them out of his system.

Now sitting outside his new home, Sam and Optimus shared a look, remembering how Jimmie's ambition had caused the largest disagreement in their long association. Jimmie remembered the incident as well, and he remembered what had resolved the matter for him.

When James was young, like Poppy and Annabelle Lennox before him and his brother Ronnie after, he was watched over and spoiled by the bots, as much as their parents would allow. Poppy and Ronnie showed their desire to fight with the bots from a young age. Sam did his best to guide his children into more peaceful pursuits, but the bots encouraged the children, and in the end, they both went into the military and into NEST.

James hated violence, hated fighting, hated to his soul the idea of going into any kind of combat or combat support, medical, transport, supply, anything. The bots knew James would never be a soldier, but he was intelligent, he was good with people, and certainly there was need for those skills as well. They wanted him to stay near home, go to school, and follow Sam into the company.

James loved the arts especially theatre. In middle and high school, he performed in any play he could manage, not always in a leading role but always in an important one. He won awards, and eventually he won a scholarship to a prestigious college known for its drama school. His parents werre proud, and supported his decision to leave home and go to school in another state as long as he got a minor or second major in a more practical field than acting. Jimmie agreed, and in fact did complete the courses for an educational certification in drama. He never used it, but he kept it up until he knew he had his career established.

The bots, one and all, were bitterly disappointed and they let him know it in no uncertain terms. They had been fighting for a time the humans could only image. To have one of Sam's children refuse to help in the fight infuriated them. Even the girls did their duty, Poppy becoming a nurse and more (though Sam never knew that) and Annabelle joining and rising in the company.

Failing that, James at least had to stay where they could protect him. They knew that if one of the children were in danger, Sam would do anything to save them, just as he had been ready to give himself into the Deceptions' hands for his parents. They never forgot that Optimus died defending Sam when he went to college. James had to understand that. Sam and Mikaela had to understand that. For weeks going into months, they made those points again and again and again, as Jimmie graduated and arrangements were made for him to leave.

Sam told Jimmie, "Let your mother and I handle this. Be patient." Both Sam and Mikaela hoped that the bots would understand eventually. Then Sam fell into one of his deep dream trances, and discovered why they were being so insistent. He set his teeth and firmed his resolve. In the back of his mind, he admitted that he wanted one child free of the war and as far away from the fight as possible. While he was trying to guide Ronnie into another interest besides the military, he knew that he had about the same chance of succeeding with Ronnie as the bots had in changing Jimmie's mind. Then Optimus asked to speak to him, and he went to meet the Prime in the meadow behind his house. He found out later that Ratchet had confronted Mikaela, and Bumblebee talked to Poppy. Worst of all, Ironhide had gone after Jimmie.

Of all the bots, Ironhide was the one who James dreaded facing the most. Dedspite every effort James made to avoid him, the weapons specialist finally cornered him and bluntly said what all of them thought. Sam was a hero in his teens. He gave his life to this war. James had no right to turn his back on his family and his planet in this way.

Up until then, James let his parents deal with the bots as his father instructed. But Ironhide's blunt words hurt, and Jimmie's temper blew. "Yes, I've seen that," he shouted. "I've seen how every minute of every day his life is eaten up by all of you! How he has to fight to give his family attention, how he works all the time! You run his life! You've bottled him up so he's never going to be able to get away from you."

"That was his choice, we forced him into nothing-" Ironhide yelled back.

"Well, that's his choice, then! And Poppy, and Annabelle, and Ronnie, they did what they wanted and now you're running their lives. Well, you aren't running mine! I can go into the real world, and I can make it on my own without you guys looking over my shoulder every minute."

"You're willfully going into danger-"

"There's millions of people out there that manage their lives okay, and I'm going to be one of them. If you think that's selfish, then I'm selfish, and I don't care. I'm not going to be eaten up by this war and you're not going to run my life like you do my father's!" James ran out of the room, fighting tears, and went home and to the meadow where he found that his father was having the same argument with Optimus Prime.

Sam listened to Optimus' quiet, reasoned arguments. As long as Jimmie stayed within a reasonable area, they could watch over him, but he was going too far away, and there was no one to spare.

"There's no need," Sam explained for what felt like the millionth time. "It's a relatively small town, with the school being one of the major industries. It's no more dangerous than the town here, and Jimmie's got plenty of sense. He'll be fine."

"You thought the same when you went for the first time."

Sam took a deep breath. He should have known Optimus was going to throw the past at him. "I remember better than you do, Optimus," he said, keeping his voice level. "I remember better than you do that you died fighting for me."

"That was not the point I wished to make," Optimus said stiffly. Sam had more than made up for that sacrifice.

Like hell, Sam thought, and said "But I was the target for the Decepticons for a lot of reasons. They knew I had the information from the Cube. They wanted revenge on me for what I did to Megatron. They even put my face on every television screen in the world. They wanted to keep me from reviving you. None of that applies in Jimmie's case. He's not a target of the Decepticons. What's more, we've whittled the 'cons down and the threat is less than it ever has been. They only have the energon they can steal, and the neutrals are staying out of the fight and mostly off of Earth. They have to pick and choose their battles now. They have no reason whatsoever to go after Jimmie. "

"The only reason they would need is your name. It is not a common one," Optimus pointed out.

"Jimmie is going to be one student in a school of thousands. There's no reason the Decepticons would try. I doubt they're aware I have a family, and speaking of family, I want to make it very clear that just because Jimmie is my son is not a reason to expect him to go into the company or the Army. Jimmie does not 'owe' the war or the company a thing. Mikaela and Poppy and I have all chosen to work and fight with you. Jimmie's got a talent, and he's got the right to do what he can with it, and I'm going to support that choice the way my parents supported mine to work with you- and they had to make that choice in the middle of a battlefield and then watch me die! "

There was a pause. "I did not know about your parents."

"I know I told you about the battle and being revived." It had been part of several long conversations after that battle, while they were both working out the needs of the bots and humans in the war and how to negotiate with the governments. "Every parent wants to protect their child, Optimus."

"Jimmie will not have protection. He will be too far away. And he would be a strong bargaining chip for the Decepticons if they found him." Optimus sounded relieved; thinking Sam finally understood.

"And every parent has to let their child to their own way when the time comes. I let Poppy go into the combat field when she wanted that, and I didn't see you coming after me then, now did I? She was in a lot more danger than Jimmie will be. But I don't remember her safety coming up. But now you bring that up for Jimmie. Nice try."

Optimus was silent.

"Listen to me, Optimus, and then I do not want to hear another word on this subject. Leave Jimmie alone, all of you. You are not responsible for him. I am. Mikaela is. He's our son."

With that he turned his back and began walking to the house. When he reached the woods, Optimus transformed and left, moving slowly. James ran to catch up with his father. "They've been at you, too," Sam said, making the words a statement and not a question. James told him a little of what happened. "Jimmie, if this is what you want, we will support you. And if you change your mind, we'll support that, too. But there is one problem Optimus brought up that we need to deal with. Witwicky is not a common name."

James went cold. "Dad-" Sam held up his hand.

"I have spoken to the school already, and they understand that there might be a problem with terrorists if you go to school with the last name of Witwicky. Can you deal with being James Witwicky Banes?"

And so his name had changed. He went to school, and did well, and he had no more problems with danger than any other student. On his rare and short visits home, he was civil to the bots he encountered, but he stayed away from the base.

Then, when he was in Charleston, SC, for the Spoleto Festival, he had spotted a police car with an Autobot symbol. He knew for a fact that the Autobots were not allowed to scan police cars. That made him wonder, and he decided on the spur of the moment to do some further checking. Very late that night, he went back, and found the police car where he had seen it before. He slipped up to the car, put his hand on the Autobot symbol, and said, "I know what this means."

It was a really good thing that the street was completely dead, because the empty car moved. Slowly, it drove itself into an empty alley, and transformed. James saw immediately that there was damage in places. "Whoa," Jimmie said, "if Ratchet finds out that you're that torn up and haven't reported, he's going to yell at you for hours."

"I know the medic you speak of, but I do not understand how you would," the bot said, in stilted English. Jimmie knew something was seriously wrong. He reached for the sonic ball he always carried with him, and began to back up. All of the Autobots knew the family of Sam Witwicky. "I mean you no harm," the damaged bot said, again slowly. "My communications are damaged. I have not been able to make any contact."

"Crap," Jimmie said, digging out his phone instead of the weapon. "You're totally new to Earth and humans, aren't you? Hold on. I'm going to call my father, he and Optimus work together. They'll come get you. " As he spoke he was on speed dial, and hoped Dad would forgive him for waking him up. Sam answered the phone immediately, sounding wide awake.

"Jimmie, what is it?"

"I'm okay, Dad, I'm not in trouble." Quickly he explained.

"You're in a strange city, talking to a bot you don't know in the middle of the night and you don't think you're in trouble? Son, just where are your brains?" Then Jimmie heard his father calling Bumblebee. "You have that sonic ball out to throw, and if that bot so much as twitches, you better run like hell, you hear me? "

"I hear you, Dad, but he's hurt."

"Hold the phone whe he can hear. Bumblebee's going to talk to him." Feeling absolutely silly, Jimmie approached the bot and held the phone up. He could hear the static like sound of the Cybertronian language. The bot visibly- well, Jimmie could only say, relaxed, and responded. After a few more sentences, he told James to speak himself.

"Well, you're going to live, son, he seems that this is one of the ones Optimus thought lost. Now, we can't get there sooner than tomorrow at best. How many more days will you be there?"

"Two more days. Maybe you can just take me home from here. " Sitting here with the bot made him a little homesick, especially since the Charleston weather was hot and sticky in a way he had never experienced. It was summer, and his job had ended with the school year, to be renewed when he went back for his senior year. Dad and Mom already agreed to pay rent and utilities on his apartment for the summer if he went home to see them.

"Since all this blew up, I don't see why we can't take care of all the details at once. I'd love to have some quality time with you. Someone from NEST will be out to see you and make the arrangements for the bot. I'll call when I'm on my way." Dad signed off. Jimmie looked up at the bot.

"Have you been able to access the Web?" he asked. Prowl had picked up some communications, as he was able to speak and understand English and Spanish, but not how to contact an e-mail address. Jimmie worked with the bot until they were satisfied that he could e-mail Jimmie the street he was on and directions if needed. By this time, the bot was pretty familiar with the downtown streets, and they decided that they would test the system tomorrow to see if it worked. Then Prowl asked Jimmie to describe the bots he knew. Jimmie tried names, but the bot did not know the ones they had recently chosen. Jimmie instead described their behavior, and that worked. The bot knew Optimus, Ironhide and Ratchet immediately. He hesitated a little over Bumblebee and knew Arcee and the other motorcycle alts. He groaned when Jimmie described the twins, which made Jimmie snicker. Then Jimmie had to excuse himself, as he was yawning his head off, and they agreed to meet the next night.

Fortunately, his friends came in only a few hours before he did, and they all were able to sleep late. Jimmie got his call, and arranged to meet the NEST rep. Finally, he heard from the bot, and managed to find him. This time he stayed in his alt form.

Jimmie sat on a park bench and gave the bot the history as he knew it, warning the bot up front that he had not been alive then and this was information he got from his father and the Autobots. Then he answered questions as best he could. That was heavy going; as sometimes he had to work at finding a way to explain that the bot could understand. Inevitably, Prowl asked if he was going to join NEST. Jimmie was quiet, wondering if he was dealing with another Ironhide. Then he startled the young man. "You should not," ithe said. "You would not make a good soldier."

"I don't know whether to be insulted or relieved," Jimmie said, and the next thing he knew, he was talking about the trouble just before he left for school. The bot listened.

"Ironhide was wrong. You and your parental units were right." Jimmie did not have time to respond to this statement, as his phone rang. The NEST rep gave them directions, and asked if the bot could manage a hologram well enough to get them safely to the address. He could, and Jimmie rode with him, texting his friends not to expect him until late as he was meeting his father.

"How long have you been prowling around Charleston?" he asked, when he got their response-go ahead, have fun.

"I fell into the ocean near the island of Folly and came here in the hopes of hearing of the war," the hologram of a cop said. "I have heard nothing. What is prowling?" Jimmie explained that the war was kept quiet to keep the human population from panicking, and what prowling was. Jimmie called the rep where they were close to the base. The rep met them there, and took them to an airplane hanger. As soon as they were inside, Jimmie saw a familiar yellow car and a human figure standing against it. As soon as Prowl stopped, he got out, and met his father in the middle of the room for a hug. Behind them, Bumblebee transformed, and the bot did the same.

"If you ever do that to me again," Sam started to threaten, but the threat died as the bot transformed and he took in the damage. "Bumblebee said this is Prime's strategy specialist." There was another sound of transforming, startling Jimmie. "And Ironhide's friend," Sam added, as the bot came forward. Jimmie moved away. Except for Bumblebee, Jimmie avoided the bots in his rare visits home, especially Ironhide. Sam walked with him, asking about school and the visit to Charleston, and what he had seen. Jimmie relaxed as they chatted about school and Jimmie's hopes for the next year, and about how Poppy and Bob and their son Oscar were doing, and how Ronnie was trying out for the football team again. Sam told about Wheelie's latest antics, and how Bumblebee had almost chased the little ex-Decepticon up a tree a few days ago. Jimmie laughed.

"Jimmie," the bot called. Jimmie looked over, and at a wave, walked back to the new bot. He shot a wary glance at Ironhide, and murmured a greeting. Ironhide nodded stiffly. "I am to ride back to the new base in an airplane," it said. "Will I see you again?"

"Sure," Jimmie said, surprised that he would care. "I'm going home to visit my parents for a while, and I can come to see you. I'll text you. That okay?"

"Yes. I have taken the name of Prowl." Jimmie grinned. Several days later, he did go to visit Prowl, coming onto the base for the first time in three years. Prowl was in the infirmary for repairs. Jimmie visited for almost an hour before his mother asked him to get something from the house for her.

"Your ride's waiting," she added. He walked out, expecting Bumblebee, and discovered Ironhide in his alt form. The door opened. Cursing inwardly, he walked over and got in. "Morning, Ironhide."

"Good morning, James." They were almost halfway to the house when Ironhide finally said, "I owe you an apology."

Jimmie rubbed his ears, unsure of what he had just heard. "Excuse me?"

"Prowl questioned me on our last conversation, as you described it to him," Ironhide admitted. "Then he spoke to several of the others. Prowl is a very logical bot. He said that he could not understand why any of us felt that we had any right to question the right of a child and his parental units to decide on the child's future. That if the child and parents were agreed, there was no more to be said, regardless of the fact that the parental unit might be our closest ally."

"I see. I think." He considered, and decided that Ironhide had gotten as close as he was going to get to saying he was wrong. "In that case, I accept the apology," he said. When they reached the house, they were met by Ronnie, who came running out with the item their mother requested.

"Got duty tonight, Ironhide?" the youngest son asked. Ironhide did not. "Can you come to the meadow tonight after dinner and tell stories about the planets you've been to?" Ronnie gave both of them puppy dog eyes, and Ironhide gave in without much of a struggle.

When they were back on the base, Jimmie stopped while getting out and said, "If Prowl can get out, why don't you bring him with you? "

After a moment, Ironhide agreed. That evening, most of the family went to the meadow and listened to the two bots talk about planets they had seen. Jimmy still went to see Prowl every time he came home, and Prowl would sometimes text him to discuss some human matter that baffled him. Sometimes his father called to talk to someone with an outsider's point of view. Jimmie might not work for the company, and he might not be a NEST soldier, but he knew that he had a minor role to play and he was content with that.

But he did wonder sometimes why the bots wanted him to stay so badly.

"I need to go," Minnie said, standing up and stretching. "I've got a busy day tomorrow." Sam and Jimmie stood up as well, and Sam walked them to their flars. After watching them drive off, Sam turned to see Optimus approaching in his alt mode. The truck pulled up and the door opened. Sam sighed. He was not off the hook yet, it seemed. Briefly he considered refusing, but he climbed in. He might as well get it over with.

"And just where are we going?" he asked, as Optimus drove off. He was tired but not particularly sleepy yet. To his surprise, he was enjoying the ride. It was a clear night, and he was sitting in a warm cab to enjoy it.

"Not far," Optimus said blandly. "But you never answered my question, Sam."

"What question is that?" Sam stalled, leaning back.

"Why did you keep Minnie's existence from me? It was quite simple, after all. I was very busy when you found she was Jimmie's daughter, and once I returned, everyone assumed you had told me, and the matter never came up again." The truck made a turn, and Sam saw the lights of the energon plant.

"For the same reason I insisted that Jimmie be allowed to leave for school," Sam said quietly. "I knew all of you wanted him to follow me into the company. I wasn't worried about that, I had Annabelle, and there were and are a few other promising executives out there. It was the other thing he could have taken that worried me. "

"And what was that?" Optimus circled the plants and headed for the meadow.

"The presence. Both he and Minnie had a chance of taking it without going insane. I've never met anyone else who could. Thankfully, that's not a problem anymore." Optimus was silent. "Optimus, I wondered for some time how an old vasectomy would heal itself so that I could father another child. Then Ronnie was born, too, when Mikaela had her tubes cut. Yes, it was possible, but the odds are out into orbit. That was when I figured it out. Humans pass their genes and their responsibilities on to the next generation. The presence was ensuring its survival. When all of you objected for so long, I was sure it was using its influence on all of you. It wasn't until Prowl appeared and talked some sense into you that I was sure Jimmie was safe."

"And Minnie? When did you know about her?"

"Immediately. I deleted the report Bumblebee sent in. You never go to the energon plants, or into the administrative areas. Minnie was rarely anywhere you would meet her. When I told Bumblebee about what was going on, I told him that I wanted to discuss the matter with you, and he respected that. I never did. You're a Prime, and in matters of the All-spark and its survival, you might have had to act somehow. So I kept Minnie from you. Actually, she aged out some time ago; the matter, like you said, just never came up."

"So you protected Jimmie, Minnie and me by keeping us apart. Why do you say she aged out?"

"When I was being questioned by Megatron and Fixer, the one thing I kept trying to hold out on was matters regarding the All-Spark." Here, Sam's voice shook a little. Then he got a grip on himself. "That was what he wanted to know about, did I have the All-Spark and why did it stay with me. When I answered those last questions, I didn't really know I could answer them until I did. For a human to be able to accept the Cube, the human had to be old enough to have the storage capacity, young enough to adjust to the presence, and know about the bots. I fit the criteria when I found the shard in my clothes, but not when I uploaded the All-Spark into Megatron. At the same time, that solution is a trap. The human body is too fragile a host. You would be less likely every generation to find someone who could accept the transfer without losing their mind, and the odds of the host becoming insane would increase every time the passage happened. Do you really think that's much of a solution, Optimus?"

"No, "Optimus said after a time. They were at the meadow now. Sam got out, shivering a little. The meadow was bathed in light, the pond reflecting the glow and the whole scene looking peaceful. Optimus transformed. For a time they took in the scene together, sharing the moment. A deep tension relaxed inside of Sam.

"Those last few moments of the interrogation, it was answering the questions as much as I was," Sam admitted. "If I remembered right, what was said was, 'But we have no choice. It has nowhere to go, we are trapped.' The only solution we've found is the download."

"Then we need to begin again," Optimus said, and went to the pond. He reached down and pulled the prototype from the water. Giving it to Sam, the Prime transformed again. Sam put the prototype in and climbed in himself. "It was the safest place I could think of," Optimus admitted. "Starscream got word I had been out here, and he attacked the new energon storage. That was how he got Wheelie. There was nothing I could do about that."

"Megatron is going to come after the sparklings, you know." Sam stopped, unable to bring himself to voice what they both knew, that Sam would be a target again as well. He vowed to himself again that he would never again be helpless in Megatron's power again, no matter the cost. He would die first. He examined the prototype in his hand. He noticed the symbols emerging, and could faintly sense the power in it. Just handling it calmed him.

"Then we will be careful to protect all of you." Optimus started moving back to the base. "For now he is badly damaged and has lost most of his allies. Those who were neutral are either staying away from the Decepticons, or coming to ally with us. We are stronger now than before you were taken, Sam." The Prime wondered if Sam realized just how much of a statement his stand made. The holder of the All-Spark fully repaired the Prime on a battlefield in full view of both sides, while defying the one who had broken and claimed him; in the aftermath, two Decepticons left the field still working, and the leader was badly damaged. The stalemate that existed for decades broke that one night, in the Autobot's favor.

Hopefully, any neutral party of bots would see that battlefield scene as a sign that Sam could and would make choices and was not just a prize to be fought over. All of them could sense the All-Spark in him now. Physically he was weakened, and might never recover, but there was also a calm acceptance in him that was new. Where the All-Spark before had been an uneasy presence hiding in its host, now it was a part of Sam, and that changed forever how any Cybertronian would see him.

"Then I guess we'll take it a day at a time," Sam said, and looked out of the window to watch the lights of the plant recede and the glow of the base approach. Tomorrow he would begin the download again, and speak to Annabelle about what happened in the company while he was gone, and how to step back into work a little at a time. "By the way, you and Poppy have some explaining to do as well. Just when and how did she learn to fire one of the specialty guns when she was supposed to be a nurse?"

Optimus was wise enough to tell him to ask his daughter that, and escape as soon as feasible.


	3. Chapter 3

My Face not in the Mirror

Chapter Three

Poppy could hear the sound of the guns as she strode to the firing range on the base. Sam asked her to meet him there on a mutual day off. It was over a month since his return, and while he still lived in the addition the bots had built him, he was getting out into the base and to the energon plants. He began working again with Annabelle and Minnie, both as advisor and as a fill-in. He started spending time with Minnie in her 'garage' and looking at the message boards with Minnie, Bluestreak, and Jeremy. Poppy noted with approval that he was encouraging Minnie's relationship with Jeremy as much as he could. He spent time daily with the sparklings. He was absurdly touched when their first word in English was his name. As Sam rarely left the base except to go to the energon plants, escort duty for Sam became one of the routine rotating duties of all the bots, like guard duty or sparkling caretaker, while Bumblebee investigated the positive hits from the message boards. Poppy thought that Daddy was coming along great.

He was even learning to cook. Bob and Isabelle, Ronnie's wife, were teaching him, coming over and often bringing grandchildren with them. Sam loved seeing his grandkids, and his grandkids loved seeing both Pops and the sparklings. She waved at the NEST soldiers as she walked over to her father's alley. When he stopped firing, she tapped him on the shoulder. He turned and smiled as his target moved up. "Not bad," she said at the pattern. He set another one up.

"Your turn," he said, and handed her the same kind of weapon she used on Starscream. "Virtual," he added, tapping something, and stepped back. She lifted the gun and fired. The rest of the range quieted as she fired, watching. When the virtual practice ended, there was a murmur of appreciation, and then the noise began again. Poppy looked at Sam and found a look she knew well. She had some explaining to do. She thought he might have forgotten the gun, what with being knocked around behind Bumblebee and being deafened by the lightning, but her luck had not been in.

All her life, Poppy had been around the bots. When she was born, her parents had stopped traveling, but both still worked, and her grandmother Witwicky, Nana, took care of her during the day. The car she rode in was a bot; her father or mother would carry her while talking to bots. Wheelie was her first friend her size. She played on them in the meadow when the house was built, and sometimes she would lie on her father who would lie on a bot and they would find sky pictures in the clouds. She went to grade school on the base with other NEST children, and learned that the bots were not discussed outside of the family. She knew all the bots, and they all knew her, the new ones learning in one way or another from the old ones.

At fourteen, one of the newbies at the infirmary picked up her friend Bob and scared him. She promptly snatched one of Ratchet's wrenches and walloped its ankle.

"You put him down," she screeched, pointing to Bob and pointing down. The bot looked at her and put Bob down. She was putting the wrench back up when Daddy and Bumblebee came flying into the room, both armed and scared to death. It turned out that the bot was only afraid of stepping on the children, but Poppy got an education in the following weeks about the Decepticon War, and from that moment she wanted to help.

At ten, her first brother was born; at fifteen the second. Poppy mothered her brothers as much as her parents would allow, bossing them from the moment they could be bossed ( and trying to before they could), but when her parents and the bots had other children, younger and more demanding, to look after, Poppy began to find freedom exciting. Always an outgoing kid, she became the leader of a club of NEST children who found ways to get away from the quiet guardians Poppy discovered on her first date. At first the game was only spotting the guardians. Then, when they figured out that the watchers were newbies that did not know much about humans, they began finding ways to get away from them. Bumblebee told Sam later (much later) that trailing those teenagers was the best practice a scout could possibly have, and of all of them, Poppy was the best at disappearing for hours at a time, often with Bob. Mikaela recognized the hormone surges for what they were and, after giving Poppy a long and unneeded lecture on birth control, made sure she got her shot and kept track of when they needed to be renewed. She said nothing to Sam about the matter. In her opinion he was far too overprotective of their daughter, who took after his ditzy mother to an uncomfortable degree.

Poppy was set on becoming a nurse, and she was set on working with NEST; when she completed her nursing training at the local college, she joined the Marines and was seconded to NEST the moment she finished basic training. Medical personnel did not need combat experience to transfer to NEST. She began working at the base hospital while she received very quiet training in the other skill she exhibited in basic. If Poppy Witwicky aimed at a target, she hit it. It was that simple. Grenades, handguns, big guns, knives, if Poppy aimed at a target, she hit it. But there was one big problem with Poppy going into the field.

Daddy.

Sam allowed Poppy to join NEST because she was a nurse, and would never be in combat. He monitored her assignments, and he worried. While he normally did not intervene in the military aspect of the war, he made it very clear that his daughter joined NEST only on the condition that Poppy would work as a nurse, and not in combat. But there was a job on the field that Poppy wanted, and she finally confronted Sam about it.

"Daddy," she said, "I want to work the ambulance details. I'm good enough." But Daddy said no, again, and again, and again. Screaming, wheedling, whining, silence, none of her time-tested wiles worked. Without his consent, NEST would not reassign her. Daddy ran the company that paid their salaries, and they knew it. Poppy worked on her mother, and on the bots, and got nowhere. They all knew who had to agree, and he was not budging. Sam was in two battles as a teenager. Both marked him for life; one had killed him, if only temporarily. If he could help it, his children were not going there, especially not his little girl.

They were at Nana and Poppa Witwicky's house one evening, after another appeal, and Nana wanted to know what was wrong. Poppy told them, and then stormed out of the house to the lookout her father used to go to. She kicked rocks and cursed. She was over twenty and her father still told her when to come and go, she fumed. After a time she heard a car. Looking up, she saw the yellow Camaro approach. Daddy got out, and Bumblebee transformed and sat down. The sun was just starting to set. They watched for a while. Daddy broke the silence. "Your grandmother," he said, "just gave me an earful."

"Yeah?"

"She said that you're a grown woman now and I don't have the right to get in your way." He sighed. After a time it started to get dark, and they went back. Poppy put in for the transfer again, and this time got the answer she wanted.

The ambulance detail picked up soldiers who had to be left behind in battlefield conditions. It was a difficult and painful job, and accepted volunteers only. Ambulances were sometimes attacked; soldiers were often attacked. Sometimes they were being played with as the ambulance approached, and the ambulance had to call for backup.

It started with her first time in the field.

The soldier had a broken leg and could not run. The troop came up to him while he was trying to crawl, and stepped on the other leg as the ambulance was appearing. Poppy's partner was screaming at her to turn around, they had a troop. Poppy responded by hauling out of the ambulance and shooting her long-range weapon, a specialty gun. Each round pushed the troop back another step, until it was far enough that it would not fall on the soldier if it fell. She threw a grenade. The troop caught it and looked at it curiously.

That was the first arm.

Poppy dumped the first gun and was reaching into her ambulance as the grenade blew, and this time she pulled out a bazooka before racing closer. In the meantime, her partner shut up and got to the soldier as the troop was beginning to back up. Poppy fired twice.

That took care of the other arm and one leg.

She jumped back into the ambulance, drove it closer, and helped load the soldier into the back. Then she grabbed one more device from the back of the ambulance, and tossed it onto the troop. Just before it blew, she said, "Pick on someone your own size, slagger."

That took care of the last leg.

The soldier was unconscious while all this was going on, and Poppy's partner was Beth, who did not dare reveal Poppy's secret, as Poppy knew too many of hers. When a bot called First Aid scanned an ambulance, it became her partner. Between Poppy and First Aid, any troop who messed with a soldier left behind was lucky if it was killed. The troops began to run from ambulances six months after First Aid joined her. They were known in the ambulance troops as the berserker team. Morale went up as more soldiers survived.

This was not information that anyone wanted Sam to get. Ratchet told Mikaela, who talked to Poppy. They both decided that what Daddy did not know would not hurt him. Poppy was saving lives, and that was what she wanted to do. However, Mikaela did talk to Ironhide. Ironhide began to design, and soon all ambulances and ambulance personnel were trained in defensive weapons that worked just as well as Poppy's berserker techniques. Poppy accepted Bob's proposal on the condition that she would keep her maiden name, and moved into coordination and administration after helping train the ambulance drivers in the new weapons.

But Judith Patricia Witwicky did not think Dad needed to know all that mess. After all, she'd survived, hadn't she?

"Well, Daddy," she said, "ambulance drivers and personnel did have to learn to self-defense. You know that. Ironhide just made me some special weapons. You know how much Ironhide loves that."

Sam regarded his oldest daughter and the innocent face she showed only when she was trying to get out of something, and his lip twitched. She gave him her most winsome smile, and he gave in, laughing at her deliberately childish techniques with the steak of white in her hair, almost hidden by the light brown. "Well, you survived," he said, as they went to put their weapons up. "I guess that's all that matters. " They walked out of the firing range and toward his house, where they were intercepted by three sparklings.

"Sam! Sam play music, read? Please?" one of them wheedled, and the other two clicked.

"Who's looking after you today?" Sam asked, looking around.

"I am," grumbled the bot that poked its head around the corner. "Hi, Poppy! Haven't seen you for a while." First Aid reached and managed to snag one of the sparklings, who squealed while the other two scattered. "Would you look at them?"

"I'm seeing them," Sam said dryly, as both the runaways found that his door was locked. "You two go with First Aid," he said sternly. "If you behave until nine, I'll read to you for an hour. All right?" The two sparklings clicked with disappointment. "And I mean it, if First Aid says no, it's no reading. And watch that language. "They walked over to the bot, who gave him a grateful look. "Text me and I'll come," he told it, "or tell me if I don't need to," he added with a stern look at the little ones.

"What did they say?" she asked, as he unlocked the door and they went in. He was changing clothes before they went to her house for a cooking lesion. Bob, not Poppy, was the instructor, and he would be home soon.

"They called First a slagging slowpoke," Sam said before disappearing into the bedroom. He emerged a few minutes later in jeans and a t-shirt. She noticed something, and made him stand still.

"You have some white hairs," she said, poking a finger at his forehead. "About time, too." Sam snorted and batted her hand away. He had started the download again, and the flashbacks were easing. Even better, he had managed to communicate that he needed to show some signs of aging, and it seemed the effort had worked. It was a start. Maybe somewhere along the line he could learn a little more. "Come on, Bob'll be home and maybe tonight you won't have to scrub off the stove."


End file.
